1 1 Tuesday, 28 November 2017 2 (10.00 am) 3 LADY SMITH: Good morning. 4 For those of you who don't know, I'm Lady Smith and 5 I'm the chair of this inquiry. If you haven't been here 6 before, I hope you have been able to find your way 7 around the hearing suite and make yourselves 8 comfortable. 9 There are a number of members of the Inquiry team 10 present to provide assistance if required, so if you 11 have any problems or questions please don't hesitate to 12 ask them. 13 Today we move to phase 2 of our public hearings. We 14 are going to be examining evidence that we have 15 ingathered, researched and analysed relating to 16 residential establishments for the care of children that 17 were run by Roman Catholic Orders. We are going to 18 start with a case study about two establishments that 19 were run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de 20 Paul, Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in 21 Rutherglen. This case study will run until late 22 January. 23 Before we move to hearing the evidence of witnesses, 24 there are some important matters that I must explain. 25 Much of the evidence in this case study will come from 2 1 applicants or it will be a response to what applicants 2 say. When I say "applicant", I'm talking about a person 3 who has come forward to the Inquiry and has told us 4 about being abused whilst in residential care as 5 a child. There is a very important aspect to the 6 evidence that we are going to hear from these applicants 7 and I want to explain that now. 8 I'm aware that they will often be describing things 9 that are deeply personal and that they find deeply 10 upsetting. For some, they had not shared their accounts 11 of their childhood with anyone, not even members of 12 their own family before engaging with this Inquiry. For 13 many they would find it even more upsetting and 14 distressing if their identities became known and it is 15 only fair and reasonable that I do what I can to protect 16 against that. 17 So it is that under an order issued some time ago, 18 called "General Restriction Order Direction Number 1", 19 I directed that other than in the case of some strictly 20 defined exceptions the identities of applicants must not 21 be disclosed or published without the consent of the 22 particular applicant concerned. By that I mean any type 23 of disclosure or publication, including disclosure on 24 social media. 25 During this case study where applicants have 3 1 expressed the wish to remain anonymous with their 2 identities protected, as they are entitled to do, those 3 wishes will be respected. Their names or any evidence 4 that could identify them must not be disclosed unless 5 the individual applicant has consented to that 6 happening. 7 These applicants will be given a pseudonym when 8 giving their evidence or when their evidence is being 9 read out from their statements, as will happen in the 10 case of some applicants. A pseudonym will also be used 11 in the transcript of their evidence so as to protect 12 their identity. 13 Under the same general restriction order, evidence 14 which in any way identifies anyone as being the subject 15 of allegations of having abused children in care must 16 not be disclosed or published prior to the publication 17 of the inquiry reports unless those persons have been 18 convicted of abusing children in care. Whilst members 19 of the public may question this decision, given that 20 this is a public inquiry, and its terms of reference 21 require me to investigate the nature and extent of abuse 22 of children in care, my task is not to make findings 23 about whether any particular individual was guilty of or 24 responsible for the abuse of children. 25 I'm not only not required to determine whether 4 1 a particular individual is guilty of a crime or of 2 a civil wrong; the legal rules that apply to this 3 Inquiry prevent me from doing so. 4 Also, in many cases it would not be fair to name 5 these alleged abusers nor would it be fair to their 6 families. For example, a number of them are now dead or 7 otherwise unable to answer the allegations against them. 8 So, when I say these identities must not be disclosed or 9 published, I am again referring to any type of 10 publication or disclosure, including by means of social 11 media. 12 This means that during the case study, where Sisters 13 and former Sisters of the Daughters of Charity Order who 14 are the subject of allegations of abuse give evidence, 15 they will be given a pseudonym when they give their 16 evidence to the Inquiry and cyphers and pseudonyms will 17 be used in the transcript of that evidence. 18 These considerations do not apply where there have 19 been convictions. In those cases, it has been 20 established beyond reasonable doubt in the criminal 21 courts that the individuals concerned abused children in 22 care. Their names and identities have already been made 23 public and, in the case of many of them, widely 24 broadcast. I consider that it is therefore appropriate 25 that they be named in the course of the Inquiry 5 1 proceedings. 2 Now, as I have said, applicants will be giving 3 evidence about abuse, about Sisters, about former 4 Sisters of the Order and about other persons connected 5 with the establishments we are going to focus on. It is 6 inevitable that at times applicants will, in the flow of 7 their evidence, disclose the names of those who are 8 alleged to have abused children at these establishments. 9 I have decided that it is not realistic to think 10 that that can be avoided. To accommodate this, whilst 11 at the same time doing all I can to protect the 12 identities of those who are the subject of allegations 13 but have not been convicted, I have decided that I will 14 permit the disclosure within this hearing room of the 15 identities of these alleged abusers. Any other course 16 of action would be bound to impair the efficient and 17 effective conduct of the hearing of the case study. 18 So the names of the those alleged to have been 19 abusers, but who have not been convicted may be 20 mentioned in the course of evidence, but these names 21 must not be disclosed or published by anyone, by any 22 means at all, to anybody else, whoever they are outside 23 the hearing room. 24 I'm going to repeat that because it is very 25 important: the names of those alleged to have been 6 1 abusers but who have not been convicted may be mentioned 2 in the course of evidence but these names must not be 3 disclosed or published by anyone, by any means at all, 4 to anybody else, whoever they are, outside the hearing 5 room. 6 This instruction applies to members of the press and 7 to anyone else present in the hearing room at any time. 8 Any such disclosure would be a serious breach of my 9 restriction order. 10 In the transcripts of evidence, any names of alleged 11 abusers spoken in evidence in this way will be protected 12 by the use of pseudonyms or cyphers. So the mention of 13 their names will, if it happens, only appear within the 14 hearing room. 15 I should add that to this point there have been no 16 specific restrictions placed on the media, members of 17 the public or interested parties posting live to social 18 media during hearings. However, as we start this case 19 study and begin to hear very personal and sensitive 20 evidence, I have decided to suspend live social media 21 posting from the hearing room. There is to be no social 22 media posting from the hearing room at all. You will be 23 advised if that changes. 24 I'm now going to pass to senior counsel to the 25 Inquiry, Mr MacAulay. 7 1 MR MacAULAY: Good morning, my Lady. 2 I understand that five parties have sought leave to 3 appear and have been granted leave to appear in the 4 course of this case study. Shortly I think they will be 5 asked to introduce themselves and make a short opening 6 statement. 7 Before that, can I just make some very brief 8 observations about the programme for this case study 9 into the Daughters of Charity. 10 In these pre-Christmas hearings, the Inquiry will 11 hear the evidence of 36 applicants who were former child 12 residents. Twenty-three will give oral testimony and 13 13 statements will be read into the transcripts. 14 There will also be evidence on discrete issues in 15 the final week prior to Christmas, in particular in 16 relation to the deaths of Smyllum children while in care 17 and the burial of children from Smyllum. 18 In January, the plan at present is to hear the 19 evidence of around another 10 applicants or so, although 20 that number may change.